Defiant Studios dropped as Lords of the Fallen 2 developer

CI Games, one of the co-developers of Lords of the Fallen have terminated the contract with New York-based Defiant Studios, who were brought in to help with the project. The two studios had a disagreement over the quality of their work.

Defiant Studio, a New York-based development studio have been dropped as the developer of Lords of the Fallen 2 less than a year after they started working on the project, it's been officially announced by CI Games, the co-developer of the original game.

In the announcement, CI Games claim that Defiant Studio's work was not up to the quality standard they expected when they signed the agreement for the development of the new game. Defiant were supposed to build the game from scratch and give it a fresh start.

"The quality of the work was lower than expected by the company, as precisely described in the agreement, despite three calls to improve the quality of this stage of work," it's written in the statement, translated by Eurogamer.

However, Defiant Studio are having none of this and claim that the team that worked on the project was made of "exceedingly talented developers" who have the full backing of Defiant and whose work they stand behind.

Defiant Studio's managing director David Grijns told Eurogamer that the team "categorically disagree with the portrayal of Defiant Studios made by CI Games".

Lords of the Fallen 2 was originally scheduled to release in 2017, but the development process hit many obstacles on the road, and with the latest fallout between the two studios, the future doesn't look so bright for the sequel.

In February 2018, CI Games shrunk their development staff to 30 people, a measure that has been taken due to problems with the development of Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 which is another issue that could hamper the development of Souls-like ARPG even further.

It's a sea of bad news for CI Games really, and whether they can cope with both Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts, which is their upcoming tactical shooter and Lords of the Fallen 2, remains to be seen.